Affirmed jockey Cauthen watches American Pharoah from stands - NY Daily News Jockey Steve Cauthen, who rode Affirmed in 1978, on hand to watch American Pharoah win Triple Crown Affirmed jockey Cauthen watches American Pharoah from stands Affirmed on the inside, Steve Cauthen up, wins the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown, ahead of Alydar, Jorge Velasquez up, on June 10, 1978. Affirmed is the last horse to sweep all three races. (AP) NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Updated: Sunday, June 7, 2015, 1:31 AM There were five horses in the Belmont Stakes field in the summer of ’78, although the jockey aboard Affirmed that Saturday says “really, it was only two,” when the horn sounded and the gates popped open. Steve Cauthen was all of 18 years old in 1978, an age when most teenagers are headed to the prom.

Cauthen ditched his tux in favor of racing tights, climbed aboard Affirmed and rode to Triple Crown glory after a scintillating, neck-and-neck battle with Alydar, the only other horse that mattered that day. “Yeah, I was nervous. Obviously you have a chance to do something special. You don’t want to, basically, mess it up,” Cauthen, 55, told the Daily News on Saturday at Belmont Park, hours before American Pharoah became the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed. “Considering all that, I think I kind of kept it all as best in perspective as I could and just focused on my horse, and how to ride him best, and my best chance at beating Alydar.” Thirty-seven years after Cauthen made history at the Belmont — waging an entertaining, tense battle with Alydar down the stretch and winning by a head, after the two battled neck-and-neck and nose-to-nose in all three Triple Crown races — the former jockey knew American Pharoah would be the horse that would take its place alongside Affirmed, Seattle Slew, Secretariat and the other eight Triple Crown titans.

Steve Cauthen is at Belmont Park on Saturday and witnesses the first Triple Crown winner since he rode Affirmed to the rare feat in 1978. (C.Neil DeCrescenzo/C.Neil DeCrescenzo HORSEGEMS) “Everybody wants to see something special,” Cauthen said. “He’s got Bob Baffert — there’s no better trainer around and certainly none with more experience than him that are trying to win this race.” Cauthen wasn’t the only link to Triple Crown history on hand Saturday. Penny Chenery, 93, the owner of 1973 Triple Crown champion Secretariat, said simply: “I’m thrilled.” FROSTED DOESN'T FLAKE Wood Memorial winner Frosted was the lone runner to make a late move at American Pharoah, finishing second. “My horse ran great, but the horse everybody expected to win won the race,” jockey Joel Rosario said. “My horse ran really great and we got second place. It’s exciting because we have not seen this for so long and the winner really looked brilliant.

“My horse showed that he is a really nice horse, and there will be lots of races down the road for my horse.” Rosario won the Belmont in 2014 aboard Tonalist, denying California Chrome’s Triple Crown bid. American Pharoah is a Triple Crown winner after Belmont romp EVEN STEVENS Jockey Gary Stevens, who has ridden three Belmont Stakes winners, was also full of compliments. “He ran a hell of a race,” said Stevens, who finished seventh aboard Tale of Verve. “That’s a hell of a horse. The race was over in the third jump from the gate, it was over. It’s great to come back to a screaming crowd in a happy way instead of booing. It’s a pretty cool moment.” Stevens won the Belmont Stakes in 1995 aboard Thunder Gulch, in 1998 aboard Victory Gallop — ending Real Quiet’s Triple Crown bid — and on Point Given in 2001, Baffert’s lone Belmont winner before American Pharoah. CROWD CONTROL With the attendance capped at 90,000, the Belmont Stakes was finally sold out late Friday night.

The attendance was capped this year after the New York Racing Association couldn’t handle the 102,199 last year when concessions ran out of food and drinks and many in attendance had problems leaving the facility by public transportation or by automobile. Nassau County Police said traffic was flowing steadily without delays on the parkways and the Hempstead Turnpike. Affirmed: 1978 Triple Crown Winner Affirmed Champion Two Year Old Colt of 1977, 1978 Triple Crown, 1978 Horse of the Year, 1979 Horse of the Year Affirmed, one of the most famous horses in recent racing history, is best known for his great rivalry with Calumet Farm's Alydar which came to a climax in the 1978 American Classics. Affirmed narrowly beat his persistent shadow in all three races, becoming the most recent Triple Crown winner. Twice Horse of the Year and the winner of three Eclipse Awards, Affirmed seemed to be almost too pretty to run. The beautiful colt was a bright chestnut with a star and a stripe, and he possessed almost faultless conformation.

The famous painter Richard Stone Reeves, known for his Horse of the Year portraits, honored Affirmed by stating that as far as conformation went, he was in a class with Buckpasser and Secretariat. After every race, Affirmed returned to the winner's circle to calmly wipe his mouth on his devoted groom's pants. The ritual had first began after Affirmed's morning workouts, and Juan Alaniz cheerfully endured his role as an equine napkin, saying that the colt simply liked to keep his face clean. Affirmed and Juan were loyal friends, and often spent afternoons napping together in the horse's stall. Affirmed was foaled February 21, 1975, in Florida. He was a son of Exclusive Native, whose career had included victories in the Sanford Stakes and the Arlington Classic, and the Crafty Admiral mare Won't Tell You. Wearing to colors of his breeder, Louis Wolfson's Harbor View Farm, Affirmed began his racing career at Belmont Park, wiring the field to break his maiden in his first start on May 24.

Trainer Laz Barrera didn't waste any time testing his future star against stakes quality horses, and entered him in the Youthful Stakes the next time out. Affirmed came from behind this time, and scored by a neck. In his third race, the Great American Stakes, Affirmed tasted defeat for the first time, running second to Alydar, and the famous rivalry began. After crossing the country to win the July 23 Hollywood Juvenile by seven lengths, Affirmed returned east for Saratoga's Sanford Stakes on August 17. Steve Cauthen had the mount on Affirmed for the first time, and the pair won easily from the Olden Times colt Tilt Up. Affirmed met Alydar again ten days later, this time in the Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga, and won by a convincing half length. A few weeks later, the pair met for the fifth time. They hooked up three furlongs from home and battled desperately down the Belmont Park homestretch. Affirmed was again triumphant, winning the Futurity by a nose in the final strides.

In a muddy Champagne Stakes, Alydar took vengeance for the last two races, sneaking up on Affirmed, who was distracted by Darby Creek Road, and beating him by 1 1/4 lengths. Said Steve Cauthen: "My horse had plenty left, but he was so busy playing games with Darby Creek Road he never even saw Alydar until it was too late." The two met one final time in the 1977 season, with both the Laurel Futurity and the two-year-old championship on the line. With Affirmed changing leads at least a dozen times, the two rivals battled down the homestretch with the third place horse another ten lengths back. Both horses displayed remarkable speed and courage, but in the end it was Affirmed who won by his handsome neck. He was named Champion Two Year Old Colt. In his three-year-old debut, Affirmed won a purse at Santa Anita, following it up with a win in the San Felipe Handicap, despite the fact that he was out of condition, having missed quite a bit of training time due to a rainy winter which was rather uncharacteristic of Southern California.

In the Santa Anita Derby Affirmed beat Balzac by eight lengths, and only the Hollywood Derby remained before the trip to Churchill Downs. Since Alydar was wintering on the east coast, Affirmed had very little competition, and he got into the habit of playing when he was in the lead, which worried trainer Laz Barrera. Playing games with Darby Creek Road had cost Affirmed the Champagne Stakes the year before, and the trainer told Steve Cauthen to use his whip and try to wake the horse up in the Hollywood Derby. Following the orders, The Kid hit Affirmed twelve times in the stretch run, but the bored and slightly lazy horse ignored him completely, winning by only two lengths. When Affirmed went back east to meet Alydar once again, he proved that his trainer had worried in vain, beating his rival in all three hard fought classics. Affirmed's margin of victory was widest in the Kentucky Derby, in which he spent the early stages of the race in third, while Sensitive Prince set a fast early pace, and then passed Believe It to take control at the top of the stretch.

Alydar closed quickly as they headed for home, and although he passed Believe It for second money he could not catch the flying colt in the pink silks. The roses belonged to Affirmed, who won by a length and a half. In the Preakness, Alydar didn't wait as long to challenge his rival. When Affirmed took the lead at about the half mile mark, Alydar was only five lengths off the pace, and hooked up with Affirmed as they turned for home. The two rivals battled gamely down the stretch, and in the end Affirmed claimed the Black Eyed Susans by only a neck. Believe It was third, again. The Belmont Stakes gave Affirmed the chance to wear a Triple Crown. For Alydar, it was an opportunity for revenge. Affirmed took the early lead, but this time Alydar didn't wait to make a late move. The two began their battle with more than a half mile left to run, and each fought gamely as they sought to get a head in front. Alydar had the lead at one point, but Affirmed bravely fought back.

The grandstand at Belmont Park shook as thousands of fans cheered the two horses down the stretch for the closest Belmont Stakes finish since Jaipur's victory over Admiral's Voyage in 1962, and at the wire Affirmed was once more victorious, winning the Test of Champions by a head. Owner Louis Wolfson was asked if he considered Affirmed to be a great horse, and replied: "Yes, a great three-year-old, and so is Alydar. But I want to see him run at four before I call him great overall." After a well deserved rest, the new Triple Crown winner scored his eighth straight victory in the Jim Dandy Stakes, coming from behind on a wet track to catch the speedy Sensitive Prince in a powerful stretch drive. But Affirmed didn't extend his winning streak to nine as his connections had hoped. Although he was first under the wire in Saratoga's Travers Stakes, Affirmed was disqualified in a controversial ruling for bumping Alydar, so both Affirmed and Seattle Slew had technically lost their previous start when the two Triple Crown winners met in the Marlboro Cup. Seattle Slew won, and to the puzzlement of his connections Affirmed scarcely offered a challenge.

The mystery was solved in the morning, when the vet discovered a throat infection. Affirmed seemed to have even less luck in challenging Seattle Slew than Alydar had experienced in the Triple Crown races. When the pair met for their second and final time in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Affirmed's saddle slipped in the stretch after an exciting battle with Slew for the early lead. His only consolation was the fact that Seattle Slew didn't win the race either. His lack of condition took its toll in the two mile race, and despite Slew's game effort, Exceller nosed him out to become the only horse to conquer two Triple Crown winners. Despite being beaten in the last three races of the season, once by disqualification, once by poor health, and once by tack failure, Affirmed was voted Horse of the Year To some, the official honor seemed hollow, since many people felt that the older champion was the better horse, having beaten the young Triple Crown winner twice. Others argued that Affirmed had valid excuses for both races, and had turned in a stronger season than his older rival. Affirmed wintered in California, and in February he was teamed with a new rider, Laffit Pincay, Jr.

Steve Cauthen, previously Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, was suffering from a streak of bad luck which already affected Affirmed season debut. With Pincay in the irons, Affirmed romped to a ten length victory in the Charles H. Strub Stakes. Assigned 128 pounds for the Santa Anita Handicap, the mighty son of Exclusive Native handled the burden with ease. He won by four and a half lengths and covered the mile and a quarter in 1:58 3/5, a new track record. In May, Affirmed went to post at Hollywood Park for the Californian Stakes. Some worried about the 130 pound impost, but in vain. Affirmed cantered to a five length victory. This prompted a weight assignment of 132 pounds for the Hollywood Gold Cup. Sirlad, a champion in Italy, pushed Affirmed to set a sizzling pace, but despite giving weight to the foreign champion Affirmed held the lead to win by three quarters of a length. He missed the American record for the distance, but only by a fifth of a second, clocking the distance in 1:58 2/5.

Affirmed was given two months off following the Hollywood Gold Cup, then returned to New York. He added two more wins to his record, but was kept out of the Marlboro Cup when he was assigned 133 pounds, while the talented Spectacular Bid was given only 126. Barrera did allow his charge to go to post against the younger star in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, which was weight for age. Affirmed gave away five pounds, rather than seven, when he met the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner. The Gold Cup was perhaps Affirmed's finest hour. He withstood four separate and impressive challenges from Spectacular Bid, with Bill Shoemaker in the irons, as well a challenge from Coastal, the 1979 Belmont Stakes winner. While beaten, Spectacular Bid was far from disgraced. Few horses can make repeated challenges in the same race. Affirmed was retired following the Jockey Club Gold Cup. His lifetime earnings totaled $2,393,818, which made him the world's Current Leading Money Winner until Spectacular Bid surpassed the amount in June of 1980. Once again, Affirmed was Horse of the Year.

And this time, no one questioned that he'd earned the title. He was elected to the Hall of Fame the year after his retirement. Affirmed first first stood stud at Spendthrift, then later at Calumet, and finally at Jonabell before passing away in January of 2001. Some consider Affirmed to be a failure at stud, since he never reproduced himself (certainly an unfair expectation), and enjoyed less success than his old rival Alydar. Yet he has actually done very well. His offspring include Canadian Triple Crown winner Peteski; Canadian turf champion Charlie Barley, winner of $922,943; Bint Pasha, the 1987 Champion Three Year Old Filly in France; Tibullo, who earned a championship in Italy; Irish Champion Easy to Copy, Irish One Thousand Guineas winner Trusted Partner, and the good handicap mare Buy the Firm. His most successful offspring. a daughter, also carried the colors of Harbor View Farm. Flawlessly earned two Eclipse Awards racing on the turf, with her career earnings exceeding two million dollars.

Affirmed's Race Record Triple Crown Winner Affirmed Euthanized - ABC News ABC News Triple Crown Winner Affirmed Euthanized By CHRIS DUNCAN Email Affirmed, the last Triple Crown winner whose riveting stretch duels with Alydar in 1978 thrilled racing fans throughout the world, was euthanized today following months of leg problems. He was 26. The chestnut colt retired to stud in 1979 after a career that saw him win 14 stakes races and more than $2.3 million. "He was basically the best horse I ever rode, the most intelligent," said Steve Cauthen, who was 18 when he guided Affirmed to the Triple Crown. "He was just a horse of tremendous courage. He loved to race. He was a great horse to ride." Affirmed-Alydar Duels Alydar finished second to Affirmed in all three races, coming closer to victory each time. Affirmed won by 1 1/2 lengths in the Derby, a neck in the Preakness and a mere head in the Belmont.

The most famous duel, of course, was the last, when Affirmed and Alydar battled side-by-side down the final seven furlongs. "He pulled it out under the most extreme situation," Cauthen recalled in 1999. "Anyone that saw that race will never forget it, and probably remember it as the greatest race they ever saw." Even in his retirement years at Jonabell Farm near Lexington, Affirmed always seemed to know when cameras were pointed at him. He had a command presence and would strut and pose, his brown coat showing a smattering of white around the muzzle and eyes. Affirmed had surgery in October to repair a dislocated left front pastern joint, but laminitis soon developed in his right hoof. Laminitis is an inflammation of soft tissue that can be caused by excessive weight-bearing after the opposite limb is injured. Dr. Larry Bramlage performed the initial surgery. On Jan. 8, the horse was returned to the hospital, where he was put under continuous observation, according to Jonabell Farm. Bramlage examined Affirmed this morning and recommended euthanasia. Jimmy Bell, the farm's general manager and president, said the horse seemed to be moving with pain in recent months.

"We elected to have [Affirmed] humanely euthanized, rather than to allow him to continue to suffer," Bell said. Seattle Slew Only Living Triple Crown Winner The death of Affirmed leaves Seattle Slew as the only living Triple Crown winner. Seattle Slew became the 10th Triple Crown winner in 1977. Since Affirmed accomplished the feat, seven colts have had a shot at the Triple Crown but failed by losing in the Belmont Stakes: Spectacular Bid (1979), Pleasant Colony (1981), Alysheba (1987), Sunday Silence (1989), Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998) and Charismatic (1999). "Any time a good horse seems to come along these days, he always gets compared to Affirmed," Bell said. "Until one wins the Triple Crown and 14 Grade I races, they've still got a lot to live up to.

This horse was the definition of a champion horse." Affirmed did not have as successful a stud career as Alydar, who was euthanized in 1990 after breaking a leg in his stall, or Seattle Slew, still standing at Three Chimneys. But his progeny have been strong turf runners and his daughters have made good broodmares. Of the more than 700 Affirmed foals, 75 had won stakes races. As a group, his foals had earned about $40 million. "Affirmed will forever stand with those who exemplify the word 'champion' in thoroughbred racing. We cannot begin to imagine how much we will miss him," said Patrice Wolfson, the horse's co-owner, with her husband, Louis. 0 Shares Connections of Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed want to see American Pharoah win the Triple Crown - Baltimore Sun The drumbeat begins every winter as horse racing lovers wonder whether the newest crop of 3-year-olds will finally produce a successor to Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed. What mainstream attention the sport garners is overwhelmingly focused on the prospects for another Triple Crown winner....

(Childs Walker) Should the bay colt succeed Saturday, former jockey Steve Cauthen hopes it's a breakout win. "I'd hate for it to be a dog-and-pony show, an average race where [American Pharoah] isn't pressed," said Cauthen who, in 1978, took Affirmed all the way. "You want him to step up and prove he's a superstar." As their horses did. Secretariat smashed track records in the Kentucky Derby , Preakness and Belmont Stakes. Seattle Slew roared through the Triple Crown unbeaten, an unprecedented feat. Affirmed earned acclaim with three fierce victories over Alydar, winning by 1-1/2 lengths, then a neck, then a nose. Triple Crown connections From left, Steve Cauthen, who rode Affirmed to the Triple Crown in 1978, Billy Turner, trainer of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, and Penny Chenery, the owner of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat, all hope American Pharoah breaks the Triple Crown drought.

From left, Steve Cauthen, who rode Affirmed to the Triple Crown in 1978, Billy Turner, trainer of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, and Penny Chenery, the owner of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat, all hope American Pharoah breaks the Triple Crown drought. Cauthen said he sees flashes of Affirmed in American Pharoah. "Tactically, he's not one dimensional. He can go to the front or sit relaxed in second or third," he said. "He's a beautiful, smooth-moving horse. The bottom line on Saturday will be the last quarter-mile. The Belmont wasn't Affirmed's ideal distance either, but he had those extra things that great horses have -- desire and heart. We'll see if American Pharoah has the guts to fight through it." American Pharoah's accomplishments shouldn't be cheapened by what some say is a lean crop of 3-year-olds, Cauthen said. "When you look at all that he has won, he is pretty deserving," he said. "Winning the Triple Crown isn't easy, even if it isn't the best year ever." Chenery agreed.

"It's not American Pharoah's fault that there isn't an Alydar or a Sham [Secretariat's nemesis] in the field," she said. "His job is to beat the horses that show up against him." Hindsight may determine this horse's legacy, should he win it all, she said. "It will be interesting, in years to come, to look back at what his competition does," Chenery said. "You can't really assess the field until you see what they do in the future." Secretariat's pedigree pulses through American Pharoah and Chenery sees a resemblance in "the fluidity of their strides." But while Secretariat was a more muscular horse, "Big Red" also failed to impress early on. "There were so many boxes in which he didn't fit," Chenery said. "His first race as a 2-year-old, he couldn't figure out how to come out of the gate.

Trainer Lucien Laurin would say, 'You big Bold Ruler colt, you don't show me anything.' " Secretariat went on to capture 16 of 21 races, set four track records, win the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths and be named Man of the Year by Sport magazine. Chenery said she hopes American Pharoah runs the table "to prove it can still be done and that we can still raise stout, fast horses. Once, we bred them to race; now we breed them to be precocious 2-year-olds that sell for a lot of money. I think they got lucky with American Pharoah in that he does have that old-time stamina." Chenery said trainer Bob Baffert has invited her to meet his horse privately before the race. "It's time for another Triple Crown winner. Ours is still a very small (11-horse) club, so I'm pulling for him," she said, adding that American Pharoah is not the horse hers was. Were he to race Secretariat, Chenery said, "I think we'd grind him down." Ditto Seattle Slew, said Turner, the last living trainer of a Triple Crown legend.

"Comparing [American Pharoah] with Slew is not good conversation. It would be the mismatch of the century," Turner said. "Slew was a horse whom you compare with the greatest ever. But that takes nothing away from this horse; he's the best thing going Saturday." Nor is it fair to liken the wannabe champion with Seattle Slew, whose wire-to-wire win in the Belmont was his ninth career victory without defeat. "Different horses, different eras," the 75-year-old Turner said. "The crops aren't as powerful now as then." Seattle Slew triumphed because he was "the boss hoss, totally dominant, the kind you read about in books," said Turner, who began training Seattle Slew at Andor Farm in Monkton in the mid-1970s. "If he'd been in a herd in the field, he would have killed the other stallions and had the mares to himself," he said. "In the Kentucky Derby, jockey Angel Cordero said he had For The Moment in the lead when he turned to look for Slew. What he saw was Slew looking not at his horse, but at him.

Cordero was afraid Slew would tear his leg off and take him right off his horse. I don't know if Slew would have done that, but he won the race." Like Seattle Slew, American Pharoah came with question marks. The former was sold as a yearling for $17,500; the latter's dam didn't win a race. "But [owner] Ahmed Zayat had enough faith to keep her and breed her," Turner said. "Nobody deserves to win this Triple Crown more than him." And if American Pharoah fails? "I think I'm good for maybe two more years," Chenery said. "People will say the Triple Crown is too hard, that we should change the distances," Cauthen said. "When I won it [in 1978] for the third time in that decade, they said the races were too easy. Well, it's been 37 years, but that's what makes it special; that's why people care." Those in the winner's circle would have their ranks swell, Cauthen said.

"We're not like the Miami Dolphins, who went undefeated [in 1972] and now pop the champagne corks every year the last unbeaten team loses a game," he said. "Another Triple Crown winner won't change things for us. "It just takes an ultra-special horse with a little luck -- and that's what sports is all about." Affirmed and Alydar's Travers showdown still rouses emotions | Daily Racing Form Affirmed and Alydar's Travers showdown still rouses emotions Email Bob Coglianese Affirmed pulls away from Alydar in the 1978 Travers, the last of their 10 meetings. Alydar was awarded the win after Affirmed was disqualified for interference. In 150 years of races on Union Avenue, none has been anticipated more than the Travers on Aug. 19, 1978. This was the 10th meeting of Affirmed and Alydar, in the oldest stakes race in the country, and two months after their soul-stirring clash in the Belmont Stakes, Affirmed denying Alydar once more with all the chips down.

For two months Saratoga had readied itself for the 109th Travers, the anticipation bubbling and then bursting to the surface like the mineral springs that rise through limestone and shale to give the town its name. This process played out in human form inside those associated with Affirmed and Alydar, perhaps none more so than John Veitch, Alydar’s trainer, whose expectation of victory was overwhelming. “It was gonna be our day,” Veitch said early this month, weeks before Saturday’s 144th running of the Travers. “The Derby was disappointing, the Preakness was disappointing, the Belmont was almost heartbreaking, but the Travers was going to be – if not revenge – was going to prove that Alydar really was the champion I had always thought he was.” What happened was only one of the most famous disqualifications in history, a race that to this day stirs disappointment and bitterness and never-ending questions. The few answers are that Alydar was nearly killed, Affirmed finished first but lost for the first time that year, and a record crowd at Saratoga responded with boos. Thirty-five years later, the race lives long in the memory.

This is the story of that race, as told through recent interviews with those who played major roles in this classic drama, their recollections as vivid as ever. ‘. . . all this pent-up emotion’ To understand the significance of the 1978 Travers, and why the outcome was so unsatisfying for Veitch, one must rewind to that fateful afternoon at Belmont Park on June 10, 1978. Affirmed and Alydar had battled over two legs of the Triple Crown, the margin dwindling but Affirmed always on top. In the Belmont they staged one of the greatest races in history. Pitched together as if on side-by-side paths, the two sprinted the fastest second six furlongs in Belmont Stakes history, Near the eighth pole it looked like Alydar had finally hooked his nemesis, but Affirmed was only shifting gears. As Bill Nack described it in Sports Illustrated many years later, “He battled through the last 220 yards – his right eye rolling back to watch his rival, like Moby Dick peering back at Ahab lashed to his side – and won by a head.” Charlie Rose, Alydar’s exercise rider, was standing right at the wire.

“I knew he just got beat a head, a short head. And the tears flowed,” he says. “Not because we lost, it was all this pent-up emotion over this thing going on for months. And now it was over.” PHOTO: Affirmed outduels Alydar by a head to complete the Triple Crown in the Belmont in June 1978. It was Affirmed’s fourth straight win over Alydar. (Bob Coglianese) The heartrending of Alydar’s connections and the joy of Affirmed’s gave way to exhaustion. During the Triple Crown, Laz Barrera, Affirmed’s late trainer, would often wake up in the middle of the night and call the barn. “Is Affirmed all right?” he would ask the foreman. His doctors told him he had to relax more, his wife, Carmen, later recalled, and in the Belmont she thought he would have a heart attack on the spot. (He had open heart surgery the next year.) “After the Belmont, Affirmed was dead tired,” recalls Steve Cauthen, his celebrated rider in those races.

“Since then I’ve heard that he had a low-grade chest or something, that Laz wasn’t telling me about, because he didn’t want me to lose any confidence going into the Belmont.” Alydar’s team had expected their chestnut colt to wear down Affirmed at the Belmont’s 12-furlong distance but were confounded that they had lost yet again. Instead, Alydar entered history as the only horse to finish second in each leg of the Triple Crown. “I thought he could beat Affirmed again, but I had at that point kind of conceded Affirmed might be a little better horse,” Rose, now 82, says. “I never conceded that up until the Belmont. You know, I could throw out the Derby and I could throw out the Preakness, but the Belmont, man, you couldn’t throw that one out.” ‘We were going to get our revenge’ Barrera and Veitch intended to race their charges once over the track before the Midsummer Derby. But a few weeks after the Belmont, Veitch was forced to change his arrangements. “I couldn’t keep Alydar on the ground,” he says. So Veitch sent Alydar to Chicago for the Arlington Classic.

On July 22, Calumet Farm’s star blitzed a field of overmatched 3-year-olds, winning by 13 lengths in a sizzling 2:00 1/5 for 1 1/4 miles. Back at Saratoga, Alydar settled in at Veitch’s white-painted barn in Clare Court, the leafy oasis encircling a half-mile deep dirt track that August Belmont built in 1905 as his own private training yard. Affirmed resided near the Oklahoma training track at the opposite end of Saratoga’s considerable footprint, beyond the main track and Union Avenue. Their training camps were far apart like two prizefighters secluded in their main-event preparations. Their paths to the Travers did not cross, raising the anticipation: Veitch chose for Alydar the opening-day Whitney against older horses on Aug. 5, and Barrera decided on the Jim Dandy, three days later. Track officials held their collective breath that separate victories would make their 10th meeting unblemished. “I knew it was a tall order for Alydar to run against older horses,” Veitch says. “But when we got to Saratoga he just absolutely blossomed.

He was better and better and better, day after day.” In the Whitney, Alydar met J.O. Tobin, the outstanding English import who had won six stakes that year and vanquished Seattle Slew in the previous year’s Swaps Stakes. Alydar was sent off the favorite. Jorge Velasquez, back aboard after missing the Arlington Classic, was happy to sit in mid-pack behind an honest pace. Nearing the quarter pole they shot up the inside and in a breathtaking flash ran right by J.O. Tobin as if he were tied to a post. They won by 10 lengths in 1:47 2/5 for nine furlongs, two ticks off the track record. Veitch and Velasquez were over the moon. As he had after the Arlington Classic, Alydar seemed to come out of the Whitney stronger than he entered. Still, the question remained: How could this horse win so brilliantly and in near-record times, as he had in the Triple Crown prep races, but never against Affirmed? Veitch, however, was unbowed. “I was very optimistic that we were going to get our revenge,” he says.

PHOTO: Alydar romps by 10 lengths in the Whitney, two weeks before the Travers. Affirmed had a much rougher prep, rallying to win the Jim Dandy by a half-length. (Bob Coglianese) Affirmed had a tall order ahead. Three days later, overnight rain left an off track for the nine-furlong Jim Dandy, and his task grew heavier when Allen Jerkens’s Sensitive Prince shook clear for an eight-length lead in the small field of five. “Early on in the race he wasn’t happy,” Cauthen remembers. “Going into that first turn it felt like he was slipping a little bit. He wasn’t confident. I was trying to give him every chance to do it on his own, because obviously I had a ton of faith in him.” Turning into the stretch, Affirmed was still six lengths behind. Sensitive Prince had sprinted three quarters in 1:10 1/5, and he came to the eighth pole in 1:35 flat, his lead still four lengths over Affirmed, who lugged nine more pounds. It seemed impossible Affirmed could get there.

“Affirmed was a horse that never gave up,” Cauthen says. “Finally Sensitive Prince hit a little bit of a wall, and Affirmed kept grinding away, picking it up, doing his thing.” Affirmed drew a straight line as if magnetized to the wire, and in the final jumps he surged past Sensitive Prince by an expanding half-length. It was a spectacular finish. ‘Four losses in a row don’t show me any new way’ The Travers was in 11 days, and the script was set perfectly. Then, the next day, Cauthen went down in a spill at Saratoga. He immediately realized that his knee injury would keep him from riding the Travers. Barrera named Laffit Pincay Jr. as his replacement. Pincay had ridden Affirmed twice before, once at Hollywood in 1977 and that spring at Santa Anita when Cauthen sat out with a suspension. Both times they had won.

“Nonetheless, it was suggested that Affirmed without Cauthen was like Silver without the Lone Ranger,” wrote Bill Leggett in Sports Illustrated, “and in the days leading up to the Travers, a lot of people were asking the same question: ‘How much will the loss of Cauthen hurt Affirmed’s chances?’ ” The jockey change and prospects of another desperate battle were taxing Barrera. “Won’t this ever end?” he asked one morning before the Travers. “The record is seven wins for Affirmed and two for Alydar. If this was boxing, he wouldn’t get no more shots at the title. For a young man who is supposed to be a good trainer, Veitch certainly say some stupid things. He always says he has a new way to beat Affirmed. What new way? Seven out of nine and four losses in a row to Affirmed don’t show me any new way.” PHOTO: Trainer Laz Barrera with Affirmed in 1978. (Bob Coglianese) The pressure was also on Velasquez.

He had led the nation in wins before and sat with Shoemaker, Angel Cordero, and Pincay in career earnings, but the reticent, consummate professional rode in the shadow of Cordero’s high-wire act in New York and then, during the Triple Crown, the boy wonder Cauthen, who was 18. Three times he thought he had Affirmed and Cauthen beat but lost each time. “I beat him in the Champagne as a 2-year-old,” Velasquez says. “In that race I knew right there I could beat him. But I couldn’t after that. It was heartbreaking.” But in the days after the Whitney, rider and trainer grew in confidence, as Veitch watched Alydar at his pinnacle of vigor and fitness. “It was going to be the race of the year, I thought, for both horses,” Veitch says. “Alydar came out of the Triple Crown better than he went in, and I had been questioning whether Affirmed was going to be as good in the Travers as he had been in the Triple Crown. That gave me a great deal of encouragement.” Encouraged, too, were Alydar’s owners, Lucille and Admiral Gene Markey.

Calumet, which Lucille Markey had inherited from her late husband, Warren Wright, had drifted into the doldrums in the 1960s, but Alydar helped revitalize its venerated name. The elder couple was infirm and able to watch Alydar in person only once, in the Blue Grass. But they lived in Saratoga during the meet, and Veitch, who began training for Calumet in 1976, called Lucille Markey regularly with optimistic reports. One afternoon shortly before the Travers, the Admiral and Mrs. Markey were being chauffeured through downtown Saratoga in their silver Rolls-Royce. “They stopped at a stoplight,” Veitch recalls, “and somebody recognized them, and the crowd started chanting, ‘Alydar, Alydar, Alydar.’ Mrs. Markey was very excited. As soon as she got home she picked up the telephone and told me about it, how proud she was of her horse.” Much like Calumet, Saratoga had passed through its own doldrums in the ’60s and was on its way out.

Crowds had started to return, and on and off the track the Travers was all people could talk about. National reporters flocked to upstate New York. The attention also tested Veitch’s nerves. A little more than a week before the Travers, he sent Charlie Rose to Monmouth Park with Calumet’s talented 2-year-old Tim the Tiger for the Sapling Stakes. Rose knew Alydar as well as any horse in his 50-year career as an exercise rider. His absence didn’t please Alydar. With Rose gone for three days, Alydar proved unruly for other exercise riders. Veitch considered sending a plane to fly Rose back to Saratoga. PHOTO: Trainer John Veitch, here with Alydar, said the disappointment of winning by disqualification and not in a fair contest took him years to get over.

(National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame) The night of the Sapling, Rose remembers, “John came down and said, ‘Get in the car and get back to Saratoga right away.’ I had to get back to get on Alydar for the last week before the Travers and get things straightened out.” “I was more excited and wound up for the Travers than the Derby,” Veitch admits. “The Travers was really the anticipation of a victory I felt we deserved. Alydar was better coming into the Travers than any race in his career.” Pincay, riding on the opposite coast, had all but escaped the pressure cooker before the race. But he had his own challenges. The night before the Travers, the first leg of his flight to New York, from Los Angeles to Chicago, arrived late and he and his wife missed their connection. They were forced to spend the night in the airport. “It’s kind of tough to sleep sitting down,” Pincay says. “I didn’t fall asleep until 5 in the morning.” When Pincay and his wife awoke, they found that the airline had bumped them from their flight to John F.

Kennedy International Airport, where they would take a helicopter to Saratoga. They had one seat between them, but Pincay did not want to leave his wife behind. “This one gracious man gave me his seat next to her,” he says. “I lost his card, and to this day I am so sorry that I never got to thank him for his generosity so I could go to Saratoga to ride Affirmed.” ‘Don’t let him get too far in front’ When Pincay finally arrived in Saratoga that afternoon, a crowd of more than 50,000, which began lining up at 5:30 to see “one of the best animal acts in history,” as Leggett put it, had already gathered. They asked each other: What would these two horses do for an encore? The infield was opened to accommodate the record numbers. There was a fast track, and it was a perfect summer day. An hour before post time fans started to amass along the white-fenced paddock, stretching four-deep out to the track. Affirmed arrived first to applause, then the Puerto Rican import Shake Shake Shake and Nasty and Bold, and finally Alydar.

“I walked over with Alydar from my barn in Clare Court,” Veitch says. “And the fans yelling, ‘Alydar, Alydar,’ it was a very emotional thing. I don’t think I’ve ever been as emotionally involved with a horse or a race as I was with the Travers, either before or since.” It was clear that Shake Shake Shake and Angel Cordero would try for the lead, Affirmed would be stuck on him, and at some point in the stretch Pincay would look over his right shoulder for Alydar. Velasquez expected Shake Shake Shake to hang around to the quarter pole, softening up Affirmed, and then he would loop around and bang Affirmed sight unseen. “That was the problem with Affirmed – you couldn’t let him see you,” Velasquez says. “When he sees the other horse he opens up.” Inside the paddock, Veitch’s instructions for his rider were deliberately minimal: Keep an eye on Affirmed and don’t let him get too far in front. “He knew Alydar, he knew Affirmed, and we were hoping that everything worked out and we’d have a nice clear and clean race,” Veitch says.

The last thing Velasquez said to him, Veitch remembers, was that this was their day. THE FOUL PHOTO: The incident that led to Affirmed’s disqualification in the 1978 Travers. Down the backstretch, jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. dropped Affirmed to the rail, cutting Alydar off and causing him to fall back several lengths. Affirmed was sent off the 7-10 favorite, and Alydar even money. Shake Shake Shake, on the inside, and Affirmed left the gate together, and Alydar eagerly joined them in the long run past the clubhouse. Going into the turn, Pincay says that Cordero shouted to him that his horse was trying to get out. Shake Shake Shake started to bear out, and as they straightened away Pincay lost even more ground on Affirmed. Velasquez drew Alydar back alongside Nasty and Bold, a length and a half behind the front two. “On the backside we were wide,” Pincay says. “I don’t know if Angel couldn’t or wouldn’t get to the inside.

So I had to move earlier to get the lead.” The inside opened for Velasquez, and he steered Alydar into the vacancy. They traveled swiftly up to Affirmed as Shake Shake Shake began to drop out after three quarters in 1:11 3/5. Alydar hugged the rail and drew within a half-length of Affirmed. The race was on. Pincay says he believed Alydar was a couple of lengths behind, and so as not to lose ground into the turn, he nudged Affirmed, who accelerated quickly in hand, and calmly dropped him toward the rail. He thought he had enough room to drop over. But Alydar was on his heels, only Pincay says he did not realize it until after the race. Cut off, Alydar struck the fence, and Velasquez thought he was going down. He grabbed the reins and yanked Alydar’s head violently to stay up. Alydar jumped over Affirmed’s hind legs to avoid catastrophe, lost stride, and dropped back six lengths. There was a collective gasp from the stands, almost like a moan or murmur. Many thought Alydar broke down.

“It wasn’t until Jorge got back down on him and got him back in stride that I realized he had been cut off,” Veitch says. “And Jorge realized he could be second.” Alydar recovered dramatically. Only his exceptional athleticism saved him from going down, and he rolled past Nasty and Bold on the outside and to the hindquarters of Affirmed in midstretch. But the contest had been decided earlier. Velasquez knew he only had to get second so they would gain from a disqualification. Affirmed finished 1 3/4 lengths clear. ‘I knew we were coming down’ The inquiry sign flashed instantly, and Velasquez claimed foul. The crowd, unhappy and disappointed, booed as the horses returned in front of the stands. “I crossed the wire, and Jorge came up to me and said, ‘Congratulations.’ In hindsight he must’ve been sarcastic,” Pincay says. “I said, ‘Thank you.’ I came back and saw the inquiry sign, and I thought, what happened? Then I saw my number blinking, and I thought it only could’ve happened on the turn. I kept thinking I was clear. Then I watched the replay.

I knew we were coming down.” Cauthen was sitting with Affirmed’s owners, Louis and Patrice Wolfson, in their box, and his sense of unease and anxiety for missing the race only grew. “The Wolfsons were like, ‘What happened?’ ” Cauthen says. “And you know, Affirmed actually crossed the wire in front, so they were obviously hopeful that nothing happened that was his fault. Until they showed you the film, you couldn’t make that determination.” Pincay was confused that Velasquez did not shout that he was coming over on him. “Jorge never said a word. This baffled me,” Pincay says upon reflection. “Most of the time we let a guy know we’re there. You always holler. If he said, ‘Hey, I’m here,’ I would’ve stayed out and given him a place to go. I never heard a peep. Nothing.” Years later, Pincay asked Velasquez about this. “He said, ‘You didn’t give me a chance,’ ” Pincay says with a chuckle.

Velasquez explained to Veitch what happened as the trainer unsaddled Alydar, who save for some cuts and bruises on both front legs, was unhurt. Minutes later, the stewards disqualified Affirmed and put up Alydar, and Veitch hastily accepted the trophy and left the winner’s circle. Veitch initially believed Pincay had acted purposefully, although he now feels differently. “There is no place on a racetrack for any rider who does that,” he fumed in the moments after the Travers. “No, I’m not happy winning this way. It’s hollow as hell. Do you realize that one of the best horses to come along in years was almost killed out there in front of the biggest crowd in Saratoga history?” Sitting in his box, Barrera voiced the opinion of many that the Eastern jockeys – Cordero and Velasquez – had ganged up on Pincay, Cordero delivering the rail to Velasquez. To which Cordero responded that his horse was bearing out almost all the way around. To this day, Velasquez bats away any alleged conspiracy. “Laz was always pissed off when he got beat,” he says.

“He could say whatever he wants to say. You know he’s going to be pissed off. He got taken down in the Travers. There was no conspiracy. “Knowing Angel, how much he wants to win, in the Travers you think Angel is going to open it up for me?” he asks incredulously. “Don’t blame Angel. Don’t blame me. Blame your jockey who made a mistake.” Velasquez was very upset after the race – other jockeys might have resorted to a fistfight – but he took refuge in the jockeys’ room. “I put water in my mouth and went upstairs to this sleeping room, and I laid down and tried to cool off,” he says. “I didn’t want to say anything to Laffit. I was angry. I tried to calm down and relax. We wanted to win legitimately, not by him being taken down. I was supposed to ride the last race.

They were looking for me but couldn’t find me.” Pincay and Velasquez were close friends from Presidente Remon in Panama City, where they learned the basics of riding together and then competed as apprentices before Velasquez left for the United States, followed soon after by Pincay. Years later, Pincay apologized to Velasquez, and later to Veitch, on a radio show where they were both invited. “Angel Cordero will tell you that I was one of the cleanest riders he ever rode against,” Pincay says. “It was a mistake on my part. My horse opened up so fast I thought I was clear. I regret it. I’d rather get beat in a race than get disqualified. “I’d never do something like that on purpose,” he adds firmly. “You’re playing with somebody’s life.” In the wake of the race, and even now, there is a belief that Pincay, perhaps under pressure as Cauthen’s replacement, panicked after seeing Alydar loom boldly to his inside. Pincay bristles at this. “How am I going to panic?” he asks. “I was on the lead, and the pace was nice and easy.

And I thought I was on the best horse.” ‘We’re going to get him next time’ As for Veitch, thinking through that day leads him to sigh, emotion forcing itself into his memories as if he had played them on a loop every day for 35 years. “It left a very bitter taste in my mouth,” he says. “And it took me a while to get over it. I was greatly disappointed that we didn’t get the opportunity, in a fair contest, to prove that Alydar was the equal to Affirmed.” Disappointment and confusion also ran through the town after the race. At the Wishing Well restaurant, Bill Nack dined with Tommy Gentry, the Kentucky breeder, and Chic Anderson, the New York race-caller. Anderson pulled out a roll of hundred-dollar bills to boast that he had won a thousand on Alydar. This irked Gentry. “This is dirty money. You don’t deserve this,” Gentry told his friend. “This is a DQ.

The Triple Crown winner finished first.” Gentry grabbed the money from Anderson’s hand, and announced to the assembled diners: “Drinks are on the house.” “And Tommy spent every dollar of Chic’s money,” Nack recalls now with a great laugh. Back at Clare Court, Velasquez carried a bottle of champagne with him to celebrate the victory. It was never opened. The jockey spoke to Alydar in front of his stall. “We’re going to get him next time,” he said, according to Bill Leggett. “It’s a shame we couldn’t have done it on our own. You were going to beat him. This way is the worst way for the thing, between you and Affirmed.” Pincay spent another night at Kennedy, and the last thing he wanted to do was ride at Del Mar the next day. “I was very close to taking off that day. But I answered all the questions asked of me. And I won four races that day.” Veitch looked over Alydar and, seeing no injury, proposed the Marlboro Cup against older horses for the colt’s next start. Barrera planned the same. Everybody assumed a new dimension in their rivalry, more hard-edged perhaps, was ahead.

But a week before the Marlboro Cup, Alydar broke the coffin bone in his left front foot. He raced six more times in 1979 but was never quite the same. Affirmed lost to Seattle Slew in the Marlboro Cup and Jockey Club Gold Cup, and after two more losses in 1979 he never tasted defeat again. Pincay replaced Cauthen, as Affirmed finished his career with seven straight wins, including the Jockey Club Gold Cup over Spectacular Bid. He retired as the richest racehorse in history. Affirmed and Alydar never met again. Affirmed vs. Alydar Affirmed and Alydar met 10 times, finishing 1-2 in all but one of the races. Race Affirmed (Alydar fifth by 5) Frank More than 1 year ago A great rivalry the likes horse racing will never see again. Loved the competitive spirit of both of these colts but Affirmed was the better horse by a slim margin. Heard plenty of times from opposing riders that you had to sneak up on Affirmed because if he saw you coming chances are you were not getting by him..

Bill Keating More than 1 year ago The last couple of races between the two horses were essentially match races. In a match race the advantage is to the horse with the better gate speed who takes the lead. Shake Shake Shake was a very poor rabbit for Alydar. He gave it up after six furlongs despite a dawdling time of 1:11.3. Alydar would have had trouble running down the relatively fresh and always game Affirmed in the stretch. But he certainly could have won the race and I felt cheated like everyone else. Pincay was such a great jockey and high character guy that you would never have expected him of such a foul. He was probably tired and on edge. Bill Keating More than 1 year ago The biggest surprise to me on reading this article about a race I watched on television was that Alydar raced twice between the Belmont and the Travers. Today you're lucky if a Triple Crown race winner doesn't go into hibernation until the Breeder's Cup.

Bryan O'Connell More than 1 year ago dang to the person typing on affirmed as he won that race as the latest reigning three year old champion to date you ought to watch your thoughts on Affirmed you ever been in a position that take from you is affirmed supposed to steer away from his *game George More than 1 year ago In the Whitney Alydar exploded up the rail changed leads and defeated older top thoroughbreds. Interesting that shooting up the rail aids a horse to change leads as he sees the rail to his left. Travers plan do the same if able to. Alydar was more than able to. He. Will shoot through nd be stronger because of changing leads. We know wht happen. Alydar appears to be out of the race drops back suddenly and then Alydar is back in stride and is coming ON AGAIN. Forget the idea well he would have lost anyway. Insult and ignorance. Affirmed racng style has the advantage n racing that is the edge . If Affitmed was so much better he would have won by so much more. Of course then came the breeding and God bless that wonderful thoroughbred Alydar who was a slam dunk winner.

Alydar is revered and many coffee house coversations prove that. George More than 1 year ago Anothet lLeo Obrien story. Furious with Pat Day on Easy Goer and the fact is people shoud face it . Obrien was 100% right. Pat Day rode Easy Goer like he was 15,000 claiming. He rode so many of thse races he couldn't help himself or wanted to be the hero instead of lettng this horse roll. Disgusting ride, stop then go then stop again Riding this poor horse two numeros MOVES in the Breeders Cup vs top performers. This horse ran his eyeballs out shame n Pat Day . Leo Obrien also said Day had a loaded Cadilllac but drove him like toyota. When you watch this race all those moves by Easy Goer was a disgrace. What an amazing thoroughbred wht a pedestrian jockey. Truth George More than 1 year ago lAlydar had difficulty changing leads heard old timer leo obrien talk about how he was injured during his trainiing process as a baby and it probably was something at affected him mentally. Watch his races you can see his dificulty changing leads.

Amazingly even in the Belmont . A testament to his greatness. Leonard L More than 1 year ago Great story, but sad it wasn't a clean win. Thanks for the memories DRF, I appreciate it. Jean Mikle More than 1 year ago Loved both these amazing colts but have to admit Affirmed was my favorite. Much like the Easy Goer-Sunday Silence rivalry in 1989, both horses aroused such strong emotions and had such staunch partisans. As one who favored Easy Goer at the beginning of that storied rivalry but eventually had to (grudgingly) admit that Sunday Silence was a slightly better horse, I have continued to believe that Affirmed would have beaten Alydar in that Travers Stakes because as great as Alydar was, Affirmed was just a tiny bit better. I remember my extreme disappointment and dissatisfaction with how the race played out. What an anticlimatic moment to such a storied rivalry! But so many years later, the disappointment has faded somewhat and now I can look at it in perspective and say, wow! What a joy it was to be a racing fan back then and to marvel in the exploits of these two great colts.

What a marvelous decade the 1970s was for racing. I fear we will never see it's like again. Bill Remmers More than 1 year ago I was at the Travers that day and until now never fully understood what took place. A great piece! And tomorrow Alydar will be 'running' in the Travers again in War Dancer. Guy

Question: Who rode Affirmed for each race when he won the Triple Crown?
Answer: Steve Cauthen